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1st February 2012
11:56am GMT
If you thought your workplace was strict when it came to taking breaks, spare a thought for some poor call centre workers in Norway.
The Daily Mail reports that workers in a Norwegian call centre are protesting against a high-tech surveillance system that sets off an alarm if they spend more than eight minutes per day in the toilet. Yes, employee toilet breaks are being monitored.
Managers are alerted by an alarm and flashing lights if an employee is away from their desk for a toilet break or other ‘personal activities’ for longer than eight minutes.
We have one question, what if you have a particularly dodgy stomach in work some day and you just NEED an extra five minutes of toilet time – will the toilet police break in and drag you out of a cubical with your pants around your ankles? Judging from the stern enforcement of the toilet alarm system we think the answer is probably yes.
Imagine explaining to your boss WHY you need those extra few minutes. Awkward…
Understandably unions are outraged at this and have branded the practice as “highly intrusive” and a “potential breach of human rights.” Norway’s privacy regulator has even written to the company in question to tell them that their monitoring system is “a major violation of privacy.”
“Each individual worker has different needs and these kinds of strict controls deprive the employees of all freedoms over the course of their working day,” said the privacy regulator.
A spokesman for the employees' union described the rules as unacceptable.
“Surveying staff to limit toilet visits, cigarette breaks, personal phone calls and other personal needs to a total of eight minutes per day is highly restrictive and intrusive and must be stopped,” he said.
The firm however has defended the toilet alarm, saying that it was not used to measure breaks taken by employees but to “assess staffing needs to ensure all calls from customers were answered.”
Yeah, sure. It seems that toilet regulations in Norwegian companies have a habit of being fiercely strict.
Last year, one firm was reported for making female workers wear a red bracelet during their…ahem…time of the month to justify more frequent toilet trips (and to probably warn male workers to keep their distance) and another company reportedly made staff sign a toilet ‘visitors book’ every time they needed to relieve themselves.
“These are extreme cases of workplace monitoring, but they are real,” said Norway’s chief workplace ombudsman Bjorn Erik Thon.
The workplace ombudsman is planning a full review of the rules regarding employment and privacy over the coming months.
